feat: add external-source plugins for third-party caveman/ponytail

Lets a plugin.json declare an `external` target->source map instead of
carrying local content, so the generator emits that Claude Code
marketplace source (e.g. a GitHub repo) verbatim rather than a local
dist path. Adds caveman and ponytail as external entries, installed
straight from their upstream repos with nothing vendored or copied.
Claude Code-only for now — agy has no equivalent external-source
mechanism, and both plugins' hooks/MCP assume Claude Code's runtime.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_014YVWWAnvR5TDQzmfY3RXG9

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@
   },
   "description": "Reusable AI skills for Claude Code and Antigravity CLI",
   "plugins": [
+    {
+      "name": "caveman",
+      "source": {
+        "source": "github",
+        "repo": "JuliusBrussee/caveman"
+      }
+    },
     {
       "name": "core-essentials",
       "source": "./dist/claude-code/core-essentials"
@@ -30,6 +37,13 @@
       "name": "github-mcp",
       "source": "./dist/claude-code/github-mcp"
     },
+    {
+      "name": "ponytail",
+      "source": {
+        "source": "github",
+        "repo": "DietrichGebert/ponytail"
+      }
+    },
     {
       "name": "readme-sync-audit",
       "source": "./dist/claude-code/readme-sync-audit"

README.md

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from one source tree and published as a native marketplace for both tools.
   - [core-essentials](#core-essentials)
   - [github-mcp](#github-mcp)
   - [gitea-mcp](#gitea-mcp)
+  - [caveman](#caveman)
+  - [ponytail](#ponytail)
 - [Installation](#installation)
   - [Claude Code](#claude-code)
   - [Antigravity CLI (agy)](#antigravity-cli-agy)
@@ -158,6 +160,33 @@ both, or neither independently.
 
 ---
 
+### `caveman`
+
+**Purpose:** Ultra-compressed communication mode — cuts output tokens while
+keeping full technical accuracy.
+
+This is a third-party plugin from
+[JuliusBrussee/caveman](https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman), not
+maintained in this repo. Our marketplace entry points straight at that
+repo's own `.claude-plugin/plugin.json` (via `source: {"source": "github",
+"repo": "JuliusBrussee/caveman"}`), so installing it through us always
+fetches the current upstream version — nothing is vendored or copied.
+Claude Code-only; see [Antigravity CLI (agy)](#antigravity-cli-agy) below
+for why.
+
+---
+
+### `ponytail`
+
+**Purpose:** Lazy senior dev mode — forces the simplest, shortest solution
+that actually works (YAGNI, stdlib first, no unrequested abstractions).
+
+Also third-party, from
+[DietrichGebert/ponytail](https://github.com/DietrichGebert/ponytail),
+installed the same external-source way as `caveman` above. Claude Code-only.
+
+---
+
 ## Installation
 
 This repository is a native plugin marketplace for both tools — there is no
@@ -181,6 +210,12 @@ Run `/plugin marketplace update` to pick up newly published plugins.
 
 ### Antigravity CLI (`agy`)
 
+Third-party plugins pulled in via `external` (see below) aren't offered
+here at all — agy has no marketplace-style external-source mechanism, and
+their hooks/MCP servers are built assuming Claude Code's plugin runtime
+(e.g. resolving `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}`), so there'd be nothing correct to
+translate even if we vendored them.
+
 agy documents a `plugins.json` "entries" mechanism for pointing it at an
 external directory of plugins, but empirically it doesn't reliably load
 one as a bundle — hooks and MCP servers inside a `plugins/<name>/` folder
@@ -242,6 +277,30 @@ verbatim where the two tools' schemas diverge:
   target; `commands/`/`agents/` have no agy equivalent and are skipped for
   that target.
 
+A plugin can instead declare `external` in its `plugin.json` — a
+target-keyed map of Claude Code marketplace `source` objects — to point at
+a third-party plugin we don't own or vendor, instead of carrying any of
+the local content above:
+
+```json
+{
+  "name": "caveman",
+  "description": "...",
+  "targets": ["claude-code"],
+  "external": {
+    "claude-code": { "source": "github", "repo": "owner/repo" }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+The generator emits that `source` object verbatim into
+`.claude-plugin/marketplace.json` instead of a local `./dist/...` path, so
+`/plugin install` fetches the plugin's real content straight from upstream
+at install time — it's never copied into this repo and never goes stale.
+A plugin with `external` must not also carry local skills/hooks/mcp/rules/
+commands/agents, and today only the `claude-code` target supports it (see
+[caveman](#caveman) and [ponytail](#ponytail) above).
+
 ### Restricting a Plugin (or a Skill) to Specific Targets
 
 Some content only makes sense for one tool — `delegate-agy` (Claude Code

plugins/caveman/plugin.json

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "name": "caveman",
+  "description": "Ultra-compressed communication mode from JuliusBrussee/caveman — cuts output tokens while keeping full technical accuracy. Installed straight from the upstream repo, not vendored here.",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "author": "Rootiest",
+  "targets": ["claude-code"],
+  "external": {
+    "claude-code": {
+      "source": "github",
+      "repo": "JuliusBrussee/caveman"
+    }
+  }
+}

plugins/ponytail/plugin.json

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "name": "ponytail",
+  "description": "Lazy senior dev mode from DietrichGebert/ponytail — forces the simplest, shortest solution that actually works (YAGNI, stdlib first, no unrequested abstractions). Installed straight from the upstream repo, not vendored here.",
+  "version": "1.0.0",
+  "author": "Rootiest",
+  "targets": ["claude-code"],
+  "external": {
+    "claude-code": {
+      "source": "github",
+      "repo": "DietrichGebert/ponytail"
+    }
+  }
+}

scripts/generate_plugins.py

@@ -17,6 +17,22 @@ A "plugin" is a directory under `plugins/<name>/` that may bundle any mix of:
   - commands/*.md       (Claude Code-only slash commands)
   - agents/*.md         (Claude Code-only subagents)
 
+Alternatively, a plugin.json may declare `external` instead of carrying any local
+content at all — a target-keyed map of Claude Code marketplace `source` objects
+pointing at a third-party plugin we don't own or vendor, e.g.:
+
+  {
+    "name": "caveman",
+    "external": { "claude-code": { "source": "github", "repo": "owner/repo" } }
+  }
+
+For each listed target, the marketplace entry's `source` is emitted verbatim instead
+of a `./dist/<target>/<name>` path — the plugin's real content is fetched straight
+from upstream at install time, so it's never copied into this repo and never goes
+stale. A plugin with `external` must not also carry local skills/hooks/mcp/rules/
+commands/agents (pick one or the other), and today only the claude-code target
+supports it — agy has no marketplace-style external-source mechanism.
+
 A plugin that ends up with no content at all for a given target (every
 skill excluded, and no hooks/mcp/rules/commands/agents of its own) is
 skipped entirely for that target — it never gets an empty output directory
@@ -143,6 +159,20 @@ def validate_targets(value: "list | None", valid_targets: list[str], context: st
     return value
 
 
+def validate_external(value: "dict | None", valid_targets: list[str], context: str) -> "dict | None":
+    """Validate an optional 'external' map of target -> marketplace source object."""
+    if value is None:
+        return None
+    if not isinstance(value, dict) or not value:
+        raise ValidationError(f"{context}: 'external' must be a non-empty object keyed by target")
+    for target, source in value.items():
+        if target not in valid_targets:
+            raise ValidationError(f"{context}: unknown target '{target}' in 'external' (valid: {', '.join(valid_targets)})")
+        if not isinstance(source, dict) or not source.get("source"):
+            raise ValidationError(f"{context}: external.{target} must be an object with a 'source' field")
+    return value
+
+
 def discover_plugins(merged_root: Path, valid_targets: list[str]) -> list[dict]:
     plugins = []
     for plugin_dir in sorted(merged_root.iterdir()):
@@ -160,6 +190,13 @@ def discover_plugins(merged_root: Path, valid_targets: list[str]) -> list[dict]:
             if not meta.get(field):
                 raise ValidationError(f"{manifest_path}: missing required field '{field}'")
         plugin_targets = validate_targets(meta.get("targets"), valid_targets, str(manifest_path))
+        plugin_external = validate_external(meta.get("external"), valid_targets, str(manifest_path))
+        if plugin_external is not None:
+            for target in plugin_external:
+                if plugin_targets is not None and target not in plugin_targets:
+                    raise ValidationError(
+                        f"{manifest_path}: external.{target} is set but 'targets' does not include '{target}'"
+                    )
 
         skills = []
         skills_dir = plugin_dir / "skills"
@@ -184,17 +221,30 @@ def discover_plugins(merged_root: Path, valid_targets: list[str]) -> list[dict]:
         mcp_path = plugin_dir / "mcp.json"
         mcp = load_json(mcp_path) if mcp_path.exists() else None
 
+        rules_dir = plugin_dir / "rules" if (plugin_dir / "rules").is_dir() else None
+        commands_dir = plugin_dir / "commands" if (plugin_dir / "commands").is_dir() else None
+        agents_dir = plugin_dir / "agents" if (plugin_dir / "agents").is_dir() else None
+
+        if plugin_external is not None and any(
+            (skills, hooks is not None, mcp is not None, rules_dir, commands_dir, agents_dir)
+        ):
+            raise ValidationError(
+                f"{manifest_path}: a plugin with 'external' must not also carry local "
+                "skills/hooks/mcp/rules/commands/agents content"
+            )
+
         plugins.append(
             {
                 "dir": plugin_dir,
                 "meta": meta,
                 "targets": plugin_targets,
+                "external": plugin_external,
                 "skills": skills,
                 "hooks": hooks,
                 "mcp": mcp,
-                "rules_dir": plugin_dir / "rules" if (plugin_dir / "rules").is_dir() else None,
+                "rules_dir": rules_dir,
-                "commands_dir": plugin_dir / "commands" if (plugin_dir / "commands").is_dir() else None,
+                "commands_dir": commands_dir,
-                "agents_dir": plugin_dir / "agents" if (plugin_dir / "agents").is_dir() else None,
+                "agents_dir": agents_dir,
             }
         )
 
@@ -352,6 +402,11 @@ def gen_claude_code(manifest: dict, plugins: list[dict], out_dir: Path) -> None:
     marketplace_entries = []
     for p in plugins:
         name = p["meta"]["name"]
+        external_source = (p["external"] or {}).get("claude-code") if p["external"] else None
+        if external_source is not None:
+            if plugin_supports(p, "claude-code"):
+                marketplace_entries.append({"name": name, "source": external_source})
+            continue
         if write_claude_plugin(p, plugins_out / name):
             marketplace_entries.append({"name": name, "source": f"./dist/claude-code/{name}"})